E-bike user jailed 5 weeks for dangerous riding, assaulting elderly pedestrian
A power-assisted bicycle (PAB) rider who assaulted a pedestrian following a spat over a near accident was jailed five weeks on Wednesday (2 May).
Singaporean Yue Kim Ming, 63, had beaten a red traffic light while riding his PAB and narrowly missed Chang Yong Peo, 69, and his wife Kei Kwee Siang, who were crossing the street. This led to a verbal dispute, during which Yue attacked Chang and did not stop even after the victim had fallen to the ground.
Yue, who works as a welder, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to one charge of committing a rash act that endangered the couple’s personal safety and one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to Chang.
At around 9.26pm on 18 May last year, the couple were crossing a signalised junction along Hougang Avenue 7 while the crossing light was green. At the time, Yue was speeding down Hougang Avenue 7 at about 30kmh to 40 kmh. He saw the pair crossing the road and sounded his horn to tell the couple to let him pass even though the traffic lights were not in his favour.
The pair were unable to move away in time and Yue whizzed past, narrowly missing them. Chang raised his hands out of reflex to prevent the plastic bag he was carrying from hitting Yue, prompting Yue to alight from his PAB.
According to the prosecution, Yue then confronted Chang aggressively while claiming that Chang had hit him.
Chang, who was puzzled by Yue’s behaviour, asked the latter what his problem was, which spurred Yue to punch Chang in the face and chest.
Yue kept up the assault even after Chang had fallen to the ground. Kei tried to intervene but Yue pulled her off. Two passers-by managed to pull Yue away, after which he fled on his PAB.
One of the passers-by gave chase in his car but eventually lost sight of Yue. Chang was conveyed to Tan Tock Song Hospital where he was found to have swellings on his face and pain in his chest.
Yue was arrested on 27 May that year.
The incident first attracted attention after Chang’s daughter wrote a Facebook post appealing for information on her father’s assailant.
While the prosecution asked for seven weeks’ jail, Yue’s lawyer, Sarbrinder Singh, asked for a fine or a “very short custodial sentence” for both charges. He said that Yue had offered Chang a letter of apology as well as to pay for his medical bills and to give him a compensatory sum of $1,000.
Singh noted that Yue’s PAB did not hit Chang and that Chang had not suffered any serious injuries.
On Tuesday, new laws regulating the use of PABs and personal mobility devices kicked in under the Active Mobility Act. These included stiffer penalties for errant users.
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